What it means
ویروس کامپیوتری (virus-e kâmpiyuteri) is the standard Persian phrase for a computer virus, a malicious program that spreads and damages systems. Both components are English loanwords: ویروس (virus) borrowed from the English word (which itself comes from Latin), and کامپیوتری (kâmpiyuteri) the adjectival form of کامپیوتر (kâmpiyuter), meaning “computer.” The phrase works exactly as in English: ویروس alone can refer to a biological virus, so the modifier کامپیوتری specifies the digital sense. A close synonym in more formal or technical writing is بدافزار (badafzâr), meaning “malware,” which is a pure Persian compound.
How to use it
- لپتاپم ویروس کامپیوتری گرفته. (laptop-am virus-e kâmpiyuteri gerefte.) “My laptop has caught a computer virus.”
- آنتیویروس نصب کن تا ویروس کامپیوتری نگیری. (ânti-virus nasb kon tâ virus-e kâmpiyuteri nagiri.) “Install an antivirus so you don’t catch a computer virus.”
- این ایمیل ویروس کامپیوتری داشت، بازش نکن. (in imeyl virus-e kâmpiyuteri dâsht, bâzesh nakon.) “This email had a computer virus, don’t open it.”
- ویروس کامپیوتری همه فایلامو پاک کرد. (virus-e kâmpiyuteri hame fâylâmo pâk kard.) “The computer virus deleted all my files.”
Cultural note
Concern about computer viruses in Iran is heightened by a specific historical event: Stuxnet, the malware discovered in 2010 that targeted Iran’s nuclear centrifuges, entered public consciousness and made ویروس کامپیوتری a term with geopolitical weight, not just a tech-support phrase. Since then, cybersecurity awareness has grown significantly among Iranian internet users. Filtered internet and reliance on VPNs also expose many users to modified software packages, which increases the real risk of encountering malicious programs.